Amarpreet Sivia, a 16-year-old honour-roll student at Princess Margaret secondary school in Surrey, died when a motorcycle collided with her and two friends on Sept. 18, 2013 near 128th Street and 69A Avenue.*
/ Twitter

One girl is dead and two more are in critical condition after being hit by a motorcycle Wednesday morning in Surrey, police say. The girls were students at Princess Margaret Secondary school and were on their lunch hour when struck.Ric Ernst
/ PNG

One girl is dead and two more are in critical condition after being hit by a motorcycle Wednesday morning in Surrey, police say. The girls were students at Princess Margaret Secondary school and were on their lunch hour when struck.Ric Ernst
/ PNG

One girl is dead and two more are in critical condition after being hit by a motorcycle Wednesday morning in Surrey, police say. The girls were students at Princess Margaret Secondary school and were on their lunch hour when struck.Ric Ernst
/ PNG

Four people were severely injured Wednesday morning after a motorcycle crashed into three pedestrians in Surrey. Three of the patients are teenagers who attend Princess Margaret Secondary.Ric Ernst
/ PNG

Four people were severely injured Wednesday morning after a motorcycle crashed into three pedestrians in Surrey. Three of the patients are teenagers who attend Princess Margaret Secondary.Ric Ernst
/ PNG

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METRO VANCOUVER - The parents of three friends hit by a motorcycle in Surrey spent an agonizing wait together at the hospital in the hours after the crash, as one-by-one, each discovered the fates of their daughters.

For the parents of Amarpreet Sivia, the 16-year-old honour-roll student at Princess Margaret secondary school who died in the collision Wednesday afternoon near 128th Street and 69A Avenue, the wait was brief.

Sivia had been crossing the four-lane street around 11:30 a.m. to get some lunch with her two friends — Jaspreet Dhami and Shahana Samira Ali — when the motorcyclist smashed into the trio.

Sivia’s two friends, both 17, were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Ali was treated for an arm injury and released the same day. Dhami had surgery at Royal Columbian Hospital on Thursday, where she was upgraded to stable condition. Dhami’s father Ravinder said his daughter had suffered a broken collar bone, pelvis, back and nose, organ damage and a fractured skull in the accident.

Jaspreet’s mother, Navneet, said she arrived at the hospital within an hour of the accident.

“We were with her all night,” she said, adding that her daughter is responding to speech and doctors believe her brain is functioning normally.

But she said doctors have been trying to keep her asleep so her brain and body can relax.

“Whenever she’s talking, her pulse starts getting high and they don’t want her to talk too much,” said Navneet.

“She’s speaking gibberish,” added her father. “Help, help,” and other things that did not make sense.

Dhami’s mother Navneet said the three teens were best friends, expecting to graduate from high school together at the end of the school year. Ravinder recalled the horrific moment when Sivia’s parents received the news that their daughter could not be revived. He said her dad fell silent.

Surrey RCMP spokesman Cpl. Bert Paquet said Thursday morning that the motorcycle driver is at Vancouver General Hospital being treated for serious injuries. Paquet said police haven’t been able to interview the 20-year-old man yet. He also said it is too soon in the investigation to know whether speed was a factor in the crash, or whether the young man would face charges.

Meanwhile, the city of Surrey will be looking into whether a crosswalk is needed on 128th Street near Princess Margaret school. A safety review of the crash site will begin as early as Friday, and should be concluded in a couple of weeks, said city engineer Philip Bellefontaine.

In 2010, the city conducted a comprehensive safety review of Surrey schools, which led to $200 million in various upgrades, but it was determined that a crossing wasn’t warranted at that location.

Bellefontaine said a range of factors were taken into consideration in making that decision, including speed and volume of traffic, how wide the road is, and whether there are gaps in traffic.

The nearest crossing with lights is only about 150 metres away from where the crash occurred.

But the problem is that students from the high school are prone to jaywalking to get to a strip mall across the street for food.

Although Surrey staff took that issue into account during the last review, Bellefontaine said that was only one consideration of many.

“With children sometimes, they are in a hurry, they are hungry, they don’t always use the facilities when they are provided. This is not a reason not to put (a crosswalk) there, but we have crosswalks elsewhere and they don’t always use them.”

He didn’t want to speculate on whether the review would be any different than the one done in 2010, but he said Wednesday’s tragedy would be taken into consideration.

He added that staff won’t be considering an overpass so students can safely cross because they are “even harder to get people to use” and the concern is students will continue to jaywalk.

“They actually increase the walking distance, because you have to zigzag your way up to a height before you can cross,” he said. “A pedestrian crossing facility would be the approach that the city would be taking.”

Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts said there will be no decision on whether to put up warning signs or a crossing guard until after she sees the RCMP report.

“Right now the road is shut down, there is an investigation going on, and I would expect that that will take several days,” she said, adding that she will wait for the report from the RCMP before making any decisions about how to improve safety at the accident site.

Between 2008 and 2012, there have been 45 crashes involving pedestrians on 128th Street, according to ICBC data. Although there were no crashes at the same spot as Wednesday’s accident at 69A Avenue, eight crashes happened within a four-block radius.

ICBC says there are, on average, 287 pedestrians injured or killed in crashes in Surrey every year. In Vancouver, the average is 582.

In the meantime, friends and family members on Thursday were mourning the death of a girl described on social media websites as a bright, friendly girl who was known for her big smile. In an online profile, Sivia described herself as an avid soccer and volleyball player who loved listening to music on her iPod.

Doug Strachan, a spokesman for the Surrey school district, said school officials are working with Surrey Mounties investigating the crash.

He said counselling and other services for students and parents were continuing on Thursday.

Also Thursday, Surrey Mounties called on the driver of a vehicle that was passed by the motorcyclist to call police.

Paquet said an initial investigation indicates the motorcyclist was travelling southbound on 128th Street in the slow lane when it changed lanes around another vehicle, of an unknown make, model and colour, before colliding with the three students.

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